With well over thirty 5-star Weapons in Genshin Impact, how do we decide when to wish on a Weapon banner? Or if we have been extremely lucky, which 5-star Weapon to actually equip to our Characters? In this list we take a look at the Best 5-Star Weapons in Genshin Impact, outlining why they are the best and when they should be used.
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Genshin Impact’s Best 5-Star Weapons
Most limited 5-star characters have been released with a weapon that suits them and would typically be their best choice, but we shouldn’t assume that those weapons will pair well with every character. The goal of this article is to highlight weapons that benefit an account overall by being great for many characters. These Weapons are almost always a step up on the Best Genshin Impact 4-Star Weapons and 3-Star Weapons.
A weapon with a great passive that’s only useful to 1 or 2 Characters could be the best weapon in the game for them but nobody else. Therefore, we believe the overall best 5-star weapons in Genshin Impact are those which have high overall strength and the versatility of working well on multiple Characters.
It’s important to consider how many Characters you have that will synergize with a weapon before you pull for it. Please note that stat and passive effect numbers will be presented as if the weapon is ascended to level 90 and at Weapon Refinement 1. Here are our thoughts on Genshin Impact’s top 5-star weapons!
1. Mistsplitter Reforged
This 5-star Sword is available on limited weapon banners whenever Kamisato Ayaka is available. It features a respectable 44.1% Crit DMG, and its passive effect provides a 12% Elemental DMG bonus, and an additional scaling 8/16/28% more Elemental DMG from stacks earned from elemental normal attacks, using elemental burst, and having less than 100% energy.
It’s highly synergistic with Ayaka, who does all 3 of these things frequently. As Elemental DMG % is one of the strongest ways to increase a character’s personal damage, a character can benefit significantly even if they are only able to maintain 1 or 2 of the stacking bonuses, making this one of the strongest swords for a character’s individual damage output.
Others who can use it well include Keqing, Kamisato Ayato, Bennett, Xingqiu, Alhaitham, Kaeya, Jean, and even the Traveler.
2. Staff of Homa
Staff of Homa is a Genshin Impact Polearm which was released alongside Hu Tao, and reruns whenever she does. The weapon carries 66.2% Crit DMG bonus, and its passive effect increases HP by 20%, ATK by 0.8% of max HP, and another 1% of max HP while HP is below 50%.
While Hu Tao’s (and Zhongli’s) HP scaling talents take advantage of this passive, even Characters who don’t build a lot of HP on purpose still benefit from it in lesser measure. After all, every character has HP!
Characters whose HP falls because of their talents, like Hu Tao and Xiao make the best use of Staff of Homa, but anyone who wants Crit DMG and ATK could use it effectively, such as Xiangling, Raiden Shogun, Cyno, Rosaria, Xiao, Zhongli, and even Shenhe.
3. Engulfing Lightning
Engulfing Lightning is Raiden Shogun’s signature Polearm and is available in the Weapon Event Wish whenever she reruns. The weapon has a 55.1% Energy Recharge stat bonus, its passive increases ATK based on Energy Recharge up to a maximum of 80% ATK, and gains an additional 30% Energy Recharge after using an Elemental Burst.
This weapon is best suited to Characters who want to use their Elemental Burst frequently, usually off-field DPS or Support characters. As Raiden Shogun’s signature weapon, it’s her best choice for her classic Energy Recharge and Crit Rate/DMG-focused build.
However, please take note that her newer Hyperbloom reaction build (as well as Thoma’s Burgeon build) focuses on Elemental Mastery instead and would prefer a different weapon. More characters who can use this weapon well are Xiangling, Shenhe, Thoma, and Zhongli, and to a lesser extent, Rosaria, Xiao, or Yun Jin.
4. Aqua Simulacra
As Yelan’s signature Bow, Aqua Simulacra reruns whenever she does, and it’s a very powerful Bow. It boasts a massive 88.2% Crit DMG stat and a passive which gives a 16% HP bonus and an additional 20% DMG dealt when opponents are nearby. While the in-game description is not specific about how close enemies must be to count as nearby, the bow glows blue to indicate when nearby enemies have activated it.
It’s rather short, which can put it at odds with its own status as a ranged weapon. As Yelan’s signature, this is not an issue because she is an off-field DPS whose Elemental Burst is usually triggered by someone else’s normal attacks of a different weapon type, but some on-field damage-dealing Bow Characters may want to play with a Shielder if they’ll be up close with this Bow.
The passive’s HP bonus only matters to Yelan’s talents at this time because only 2 Bow users have talents that scale on HP: Yelan and Diona, and the latter is not a damage dealer and would prefer not to use this bow. Still, it’s among the best because of its large Crit DMG bonus and conditional 20% DMG bonus. Other Characters who can make good use of this bow are Tartaglia, Fischl, Tighnari, Ganyu, Yoimiya, Kujou Sara, and Amber.
5. Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds
The first weapon on this list available from the Standard Wish banner, Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds is a 5-star Catalyst boasting a 33.1% Crit Rate stat. Its passive increases movement speed by 10%, and upon entering combat, it stacks an 8% Elemental DMG bonus every 4 seconds up to 32%, lasting until the Character dies or leaves combat.
This is extremely versatile, enabling any Catalyst-wielding damage-dealer to use this weapon effectively, as Crit stats are highly valuable, and Elemental DMG bonuses are unconditionally good for every character. Characters who can use this weapon effectively could also use Yae Miko’s limited banner signature catalyst Kagura’s Verity, and the standard banner catalyst Skyward Atlas as well, as all 3 are similarly versatile.
Players should choose based on whether their build requires Crit Rate, Crit DMG, or ATK% respectively. We gave Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds the edge over Kagura’s Verity because of its less-conditional passive, and both Lost Prayer and Kagura’s Verity should perform better than Skyward Atlas because Crit stats usually outperform ATK%.
Characters who can use this Catalyst well are Yae Miko, Lisa, Nahida, Klee, Yanfei, Mona, Shikanoin Heizou, Wanderer, or Ningguang. However, this catalyst can be a weaker choice for many of these characters than their less-versatile signature weapons.
6. Wolf’s Gravestone
Wolf’s Gravestone is also a 5-star standard banner weapon, and it functions on ATK, with a 49.6% ATK stat bonus, a passive carrying an additional 20% ATK, and, every 30 seconds, attacks against opponents with less than 30% HP increase the party’s ATK by 40% for 12 seconds.
This is the best all-rounder versatile Claymore in Genshin Impact, which like the catalyst above, can be beaten when a character uses their signature weapon. However, the Claymore category has the fewest number of 5-star Characters, and thus the fewest 5-star signature weapons, meaning an all-rounder claymore like Wolf’s Gravestone has less competition for many Characters to use.
The biggest exception here is the two Geo claymore users, Arataki Itto and Noelle, who prefer Itto’s signature Redhorn Stonethresher or even 4-star options like Serpent’s Spine or Whiteblind before they’d reach for the Wolf’s Gravestone. Kaveh, Dehya, and Dori’s most common use cases are dendro-based reaction teams so would prefer Elemental Mastery or supportive Energy Recharge options.
Still, almost every Claymore Character can use Wolf’s Gravestone effectively, specifically Xinyan, Diluc, Beidou, Razor, Chongyun, Eula, and Sayu.
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